Official Site of The State of New JerseyNew Jersey Labor Market Added Jobs in September
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 11, 2025
TRENTON – Preliminary employment estimates for September, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, indicate gains in New Jersey’s labor market. Total nonfarm employment increased in September by 10,900 to a seasonally adjusted level of 4,401,800 jobs, while the state’s unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 percent. Please note, the federal government shutdown delayed release of these estimates; the original release date was intended to be October 16.
Revised estimates of total nonfarm employment in August saw an upward revision of 1,700 jobs, resulting in a revised July to August monthly gain of 6,600. The state’s unemployment rate for August remained at 5.0 percent.
In September, seven out of nine private industry sectors recorded employment gains compared to August. Those sectors were trade, transportation, and utilities (+3,200), private education and health services (+2,500), leisure and hospitality (+1,800), construction (+500), manufacturing (+500), financial activities (+500), and other services (+200). Sectors that recorded job losses include professional and business services (-3,400) and information (-200). The public sector recorded a gain of 5,300 for September.
Over the past 12 months, New Jersey has added 26,400 nonfarm jobs. Total private employment added 29,200 jobs over that time. Six out of nine private industry sectors recorded a gain, including private education and health services (+28,500), professional and business services (+13,400), leisure and hospitality (+4,700), financial activities (+1,900), manufacturing (+1,800), and other services (+700). Losses were recorded year-over-year in construction (-10,000), trade, transportation, and utilities (-6,400), and information (-5,400). The public sector has recorded a loss of 2,800 jobs over the past 12 months.
The next labor market estimate release will be for November preliminary data, which will also include available data for October. This release is currently scheduled for January 7, 2026.
NJ Employment Situation Highlights: September 2025
Technical Notes: Estimates of industry employment and unemployment levels are arrived at through the use of two different monthly surveys.
Industry employment data are derived through the Current Employment Statistics (CES) survey, a monthly survey of approximately 4,000 business establishments conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) of the U.S. Department of Labor, which provides estimates of employment, hours, and earnings data broken down by industry for the nation as a whole, all states and most major metropolitan areas (often referred to as the “establishment” survey).
Resident employment and unemployment data are mainly derived from the New Jersey portion of the national Current Population Survey (CPS), a household survey conducted each month by the U.S. Census Bureau under contract with BLS, which provides input to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program (often referred to as the “household” survey).
Both industry and household estimates are revised each month based on additional information from updated survey reports compiled by the BLS. In addition, these estimates are benchmarked (revised) annually based on actual counts from New Jersey’s Unemployment Compensation Law administrative records and more complete data from all New Jersey employers.
Effective with the release of January 2018 estimates, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) program has converted to concurrent seasonal adjustment, which uses all available estimates, including those for the current month, in developing seasonal factors. Previously, the CES program developed seasonal factors once a year during the annual benchmark process. For more information on concurrent seasonal adjustment in the CES State and Area program, see https://www.bls.gov/sae/seasonal-adjustment/.